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Weather 
Callum Godde
A man has been found alive two days after disappearing into a flooded river from a houseboat, as a developing weather system threatens to bring more destructive rain.
The 51-year-old man from Sharon, near Bundaberg on the Queensland coast, was reported missing at 1am on Friday.
His disappearance sparked a two-day search of the Burnett River, which hit a major flood peak of about 7.4 metres on Wednesday morning.
He was found safe and well at 9am on Sunday at a Wood Road address in Sharon and taken to Bundaberg Hospital for assessment.
Bundaberg is one of many Queensland communities in recovery mode after more than 350 homes and businesses were inundated by flooding.
The disaster has claimed the lives of two backpackers from China who drove off a bridge on their way from Brisbane to the rain-hit North Burnett region.
Rescues occurred at Mossman and Redlynch in Far North Queensland on Sunday morning after heavy rain caused flash flooding and river rises.
No one was harmed, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said.
Major flood warnings were current on Sunday afternoon for the Thomson River at Longreach, Upper Balonne River at Surat and Cooper Creek at Windorah.
Crisafulli said the Thomson River was rising incredibly slowly at Longreach, frustrating residents.
“This has been water that’s been in the system and coming for a long time,” he told reporters.
“And because of a lack of gauges in many parts, they have been flying blind.”
Only a handful of campers remain at a local evacuation site.
Flooding in the regional city of Rockhampton would much lower than recorded earlier in 2026, the premier said.
The federal and Queensland governments on Sunday extended personal hardship assistance to flood-hit residents in 10 Gladstone Regional Council localities.
Payments of $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five or more for essentials such as food, clothing and medicine are available.
Other measures mainly targeting uninsured, low-income residents are available in certain areas.
There are now 58 Queensland local government areas receiving assistance in response to the relentless rain and subsequent flooding that has swamped the state since Christmas.
Disaster assistance will continue for as long as it is needed, federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said.
“Queensland has copped an extraordinary amount of rain for nearly 12 weeks,” she said.
Wet weather has similarly devastated the NT, sending hundreds of people from towns and communities across the region fleeing to evacuation centres.
The flooding in Katherine is the worst in almost 30 years, with crocodiles sighted around town.
The number of homes and businesses affected there is still being tallied, but the Insurance Council of Australia has declared it a significant event.
The Daly River, south of Darwin, was peaking at the Daly River Police Station on Sunday above the 1998 flood level of 16.25m.
Levels were expected to remain above the major flood level well into the week, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.
Over the weekend, rain and storms spread from the top end down to Uluru, tropical Queensland and Australia’s southern coastline.
There was potential for a tropical low or tropical cyclone off the Coral Sea to close in on the Queensland coast towards the end of the week.
“It’s too early to put details on this weather system but it’s one to keep tabs on,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.
“Away from that, the weather is quite settled, although northern NSW and the tropics could see some decent rain.”
AAP
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